Dolmen du Roh-Du

Dolmen / Quoit / Cromlech

Dolmen du Roh-Du (Dolmen / Quoit / Cromlech) on The Modern Antiquarian, the UK & Ireland's most popular megalithic community website. 2 images, 1 fieldnote, plus information on many more ancient sites nearby and across the UK & Ireland.

Images (click to view fullsize)

Fieldnotes

Another great find we weren’t even looking for. On our way back to the house after an afternoon at Lochmariquer we happened upon a sign to this dolmen off the C2 near La Chapelle Neuve. A woodland parking area (these places now all seeming very familiar) leads to a short walk through the trees, before another small sign guides us to the right, and into a clearing where stands one of the most perfect dolmens you could ever ask to see.

As we approach the dolmen the temperature drops markedly. Now although it is 5.30pm and evening is approaching it was noticeably warmer along the woodland path than it is in proximity to the dolmen. There is a real feeling of presence here, the atmosphere almost tangible, but not in any kind of sinister way. As I crouch in the chamber warmth returns, and it feels welcome, a thick carpet of leaves crunching beneath my feet, and the sheltering trees sighing in the insubstantial breeze.

Three orthostats support a large capstone, the chamber opening to the east and the rising sun. Much of the now denuded mound which once covered the dolmen remains and is still visible, the chamber hunkered within it, giving a good impression, almost like a cut away model, of how these places were constructed. The information board says that simple beaker like pottery was found within, and dated to between 2,400 – 2,200 BCE.

I’m in love with this place, it’s just such a perfect dolmen, like a text book representation of the form, and seemingly obscure, I couldn’t find any reference to it in the books I had with me. Dusk is starting to fall now or I would have stayed longer, but with the sat-nav co-ordinates for the site now locked in, and with the knowledge that it is a mere three miles from our cottage, I vow to return before we have to travel back to England.